Checking our hearts

Greetings! Today is a good day to check your heart and see if there is any bitterness rooted there. Don't let anything fester! God forgives us if we confess our sin; we need to forgive others as well!

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts." 
Proverbs 21:2 NKJV

EVERY MOMENT COUNTS

Enséñanos de tal modo a contar nuestros días,

Que traigamos al corazón sabiduría. Salmo 90:12 RVR1960

EVERY MOMENT COUNTS

Sometimes, our days can be so full and busy that we forget how precious and fragile life on earth really is. It can be easy to allow little things to creep in and steal our peace and joy. Maybe something doesn't go our way, or someone says something upsetting. Even traffic can cause us to get our focus off if we let it. 

We have to remember that each day is a gift. If we choose to focus on what's wrong, we'll miss the beauty that each day has to offer.I encourage you today: don't let the precious moments of life pass you by. Don't wait for holidays and birthdays to show people that you care. Remember, each day is unique and irreplaceable.You have been given time that can be invested or wasted; hours that can be used or misused.

That's why the psalmist prayed to God, "Teach us to number our days." He was saying, Teach us to value every moment we've been given. As you keep a proper perspective, you'll gain a heart of wisdom. You'll draw closer to God and experience the full blessing that He has for you!

-- Dr. Timothy Emerick

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love!

With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!

-John Greenleaf Whittier

Encouraging Words: The Transforming Oven of Adversity

Image: © 2009 Darleen Araujo and Sue Chastain

God Promises

Proverbs 3:5-6
New International Version (NIV)

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight.

Matthew 16:24-26
New International Version (NIV)

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

Isaiah 41:13
Romans 10:13

Phil 4:19
Psalm 121:7-8

Psalm 37:37
John 15:7

Psalm 119:9
Gal 6:9

Psalm 118:8
Eph 6:4

John 5:39
Rev 21:4

Luk 12:40
Prov 16:3

Matth 7:12
Pet 1 3:10

Psalm 40:4
Rom 6:23

Matth 6:34
Matth 5:6

Rom 5:1
Psalm 32:8

Matt 11:29
Cor 2 9:7

Prov 3:5
Matt 16:24

Luk 21:15
Deu 31:6

Jac 5:15
Isa 45:22

Tim 1 2:5
Psalm 135:6

Matthew 7:8
Matthew 5:10

Tim 2 4:7-8
Rev 3:5

Heb 12:11
John 1 5:15

Psalm 92:10
Lam 3:22-23

Num 6:26
Isa 1:18

John 3:16
Isa 40:29

Pro 10:9
Pro 28:10

John 14:6
Psalm 7:10

Rom 6:23
Psalm 40:4

John 8:36
Psalm 115:14

Psalm 18:32
1st John 2:28

Matt 7:12
1 Pet 3:10

Luk 21:15
Deut 31:6

Matt 11:28
Prov 11:24

Psalm 18:32
1 John 2:28

Psalm 37:3
Revelations 22:12

1 John 3:1
Psalm 23

Mark 10:45
Prov 10:29

Psalm 103:17
Ephes 6:3

Matthew 5:11
Matthew 7:11

Isa 59:1
John 14:27

Psalm 40:4
Rom 6:23

Isa 58:11
1 John 2:1

John 15:7
Psalm 37:37

Rev 3:20
John 5:24

Prov 4:23
Matthew 18:20

Jer 33:3
Matt 6:33

Psalm 37:25
Rev 22:21

1 John 2:17
Psalm 3:5

James 1:12
Ecles 11:1-8

Luke 12:27
Proverbs 11:21

Proverbs 11:24
Matthew 11:28

Hebrews 12;11
1 John 5:15

Isaiah 59:1
John 14:27

1 John 5:14
Hebrews 11:6

Revelations 3:12
Hebrews 8:12

2 Cor 5:21
Isaiah 51:12

Psalm 18:32
1 John 2:28

Psalm 125:1
2 Tes 3:3

1 John 2:17
Psalm 3:5

Psalm 121:7-8
Phil 4:19

Psalm 7:10
John 14:6

Deuteronomio 4:40
John 12:26

Revelations 3:5
2 Timo 7-8

Proverbs 11:24
Matthew 11:28

1 Tim 2:5
Psalm 135:6

Proverbs 3:5
Matthew 16:24

Hebrews 10:38
1 John 5:13

Ephesians 2:8
Psalm 67:1

Psalm 121 7:8
Philippians 4:19

Isaiah 51:12
2 Cor 5:21

Psalm 37:3
Revelations 22:12

Psalm 40:4
Rom 6:23

Psalm 2:8
2 Peter 3:13

1 Juan 4:12
Exodo 33:14

Matthew 6:34
Matthew 5:6

Mat 7:7
Mat 5:8

1 Tim 2:5
Porque hay un solo Dios, y un solo mediador entre Dios y los hombres, Jesucristo hombre,
Psalm 135:6
Todo lo que Jehová quiere, lo hace, En los cielos y en la tierra, en los mares y en todos los abismos.

John 14:23
Eph 5:14

Rev 3:20
John 5:24

1 John 2:28
Psalm 18:32

Mat 11:29
2 Cor 9:7

Gen 8:22
Heb 4:12

Isaiah 45:22
James 5:15

1 John 2:17
Psalm 3:5

50 years old

Bonhoeffer: “Who Am I?”

Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!

D. Bonhoeffer
March 4,1946